The Oregon men’s basketball team (3-1) will have to put a tough loss on Saturday in the rear-view mirror as Texas Southern (1-3) arrives at McArthur Court Tuesday night.
It will be a short trip to Eugene for the Tigers, as they are fresh off a 66-60 win over Oregon State in Corvallis on Sunday.
It was the first victory of the season for Texas Southern after the team dropped its first three games.
Oregon will have to be particularly wary of guard Lawrence Johnson-Danner, who is off to a quick start despite his relative inexperience.
The redshirt freshman scored a game-high 25 points against Oregon State, hitting five of seven three pointers in the process. For the season, Johnson-Danner has yet to score under 10 points.
On their own end of the floor, the Ducks will look to clean up some of the mistakes that have plagued the opening portion of the season.
Turnovers have been particularly problematic, as the team gave the ball away 17 times against San Jose State.
Oregon is, however, ramping the energy up on defense.
Opponents are averaging 15 turnovers per game, and the Ducks have registered 6.3 steals to go along with 5.3 blocks per game.
That trend will have to continue Tuesday with the offense still struggling for buckets.
Senior forward Joevan Catron continues to carry the scoring load, averaging 21.8 points per game as well as 6.8 rebounds.
With Oregon’s outside shooting slumping (31 percent from three point range), Catron should get plenty of touches against Texas Southern.
Malcolm Armstead, meanwhile, looks to improve upon a 1.12 assist/turnover ratio that is quite low for a point guard.
Texas Southern forces 15 turnovers per game, and Armstead’s ball control could have a direct impact on the efficiency of Oregon’s offense.
pmalee@dailyemerald